The present invention relates to automatic dereelers and uncoilers, and more particularly, to an automatic dispensing machine for both wire and flat metal stock with a variable tension control post which allows dereeling of various sizes and shapes of coiled metal stock.
Many industrial operations require the use of a continuous feed of wire or flat stock to make various types of metal parts. This fabrication is often performed by die-stamping or similar metal forming machines and processes. Many of these operations require different sizes of wire or flat stock, which historically has required the use of different automatic dereelers or decoilers for each different size or narrow range of sizes of wire or flat stock to be used. One of the reasons the use of different dereelers is required is that quite different tensions and sizes of guides and control posts or arms on the dereelers are required for different sizes and shapes of stock.
The prior dereeler disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,271 utilizes a vertically pivoting arm balanced with a weight to dispense a strip-like thin plate member. However, because a weight inside an enclosed column is used to provide the tension on the swing arm, the apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,271 does not allow for ease of adjustment of the tension of the swing arm, and does not permit fast and easy exchange of various sizes of feed stock to be dereeled.
It is much more economical to use one dereeling machine that can handle various sizes and shapes of feed stock than to purchase and use a number of different dereelers, each to be used with a different size of feed stock or narrow range of sizes of feed stock. Thus, there exists a need for an improved dereeler that can facilitate various sizes and shaped of stock, from small wire stock to thick wide flat stock, that is economical and easy to use.